Local recyclers playing kick the can

Since early February, when California recycler RePlanet closed dozens of its recycling buyback centers across the state, Sonoma Valley residents have had no place closer than Santa Rosa to redeem recyclable cans and bottles.

Last week, residents finally saw a light at the end of the tunnel, or garage – or whichever other storage space those unwanted beverage containers have been stashed in.

The good news is, for the first time in five months, Valley recyclers finally have a place to redeem their glass and aluminum.

It's the check-out line at Sonoma Market.

'We are currently accepting bottles and cans inside our store in Sonoma,' says Jeremy Patin, director of sustainability for the Woodland-based Nugget Market chain, which recently purchased Sonoma Market. Says Patin, 'The signs are up, and we are now prepared to accept your items and pay the full California Redemption Value (CRV).'

As he says, there is now a bright green placard hanging in the window of Sonoma Market. The sign proclaims, 'RECYCLE Beverage Containers for Cash."

'If you prefer,' reads the fine print, 'your nearest recycling center is located at ... Petaluma Recycling Center, 315 2nd Steet, in Petaluma.'

That not-local alternative, the closest in the area, leaves Sonoma Market as the sole spot in the Valley currently receiving and paying for CRV items. Though Patin predicts that it may take a few weeks for the word to get out, he says he expects the news to travel quickly.

'As people realize we're the only place to bring recyclables for redemption, we expect to see a fair amount of traffic,' he says, adding, 'It's something we've done in the past to fill the need, when situations like this arise.'

That said, Patin warns that Sonoma Market is not equipped to accept large amounts of recyclables, adding that if and when actual recycling centers reopen in the area, Sonoma Market will likely allow them to take over the bottle-and-can business.

'Until then,' he says, 'we're going to do what we can to serve the community.'

In fact, Sonoma Market – and all other retailers that sell CRV beverages – are required by state law to receive bottles and cans, should there be no licensed recycle center nearby. According to CalRecylce – or, California's Department of Resources, Recycling, and Recovery – when recycle centers disappear from an area, the grocery stores must take up the slack. The law gives grocers a choice between collecting the recyclables and paying the going CRV rate – 5 cents for containers less than 24 ounces in size, and 10 cents for everything larger – or else pay substantial fines to the state.

For the most part, California grocers have been slow to adhere.

According to Patrick Carter, executive director of the Sonoma County Waste Management Agency (SCWMA), when RePlanet pulled out of the area – the organization withdrew on the grounds that smaller centers were no longer profitable – the responsibility for collecting CRV items fell back on the stores.

Since then, the California Grocers Association (CGA) has been actively engaged in negotiating a reprieve with the state, claiming that forcing grocery stores back into the bottle-collecting business could result in higher grocery prices and longer lines.

According to a report published by the CGA in early July, a letter from the State was sent out in May to dozens of California grocers, giving them 60 days to comply, or pay $100 a day in fines. In response, the CGA has teamed up with other retailers, recyclers and organized labor, lobbying Gov. Brown, and the state legislature, for a reprieve. The state Assembly has drafted an emergency stopgap measure delaying the collection of fines until April of 2017 – with a number of other incentives intended to goose all parties into solving the crisis – though the bill has yet to go before the state Senate.

That leaves local residents in a bit of pickle – with or without the jar – standing squarely between the grocers and a statewide recycling system that's been in the red for decades, and is in serious need of an overhaul. For its own part, says Carter, the Sonoma County Waste Management Agency has been doing what it can to help local residents and grocers.

'Though we are not required to, we have reached out to some local groups to see if we can get new buyback centers up and running,' he says. 'There has been some interest, but we have yet to see a new site come online. For what it's worth, the certification requirements from CalRecycle to establish a new site are rather lengthy.'

Until such a time comes, the new management at Sonoma Market has pledged to keep that big green sign in the window, and to welcome everyone with CRV items to redeem. Whether other local grocery stores will follow suit, or merely wait until the recycling industry makes a rebound, only time will tell.

'Were hopeful that the industry will recover,' says Patin, 'because – though we certainly will continue to take the items – the simple truth is that when licensed recycle centers are up and running, that really is the most efficient way to make this work, for everyone.'

Email David at david.templeton@sonomanews.com.